STRESSFUL EVENTS SCHEDULE

Thomas Holmes, M.D., and his research associates at the University of Washington have found that people are more likely to develop illnesses or clinical symptoms after experiencing a period when they have had to adapt to many life events.

Dr. Holmes and his associates have developed the “Schedule of Recent Experience,” which allows you to quantify how many changes you have experienced in the past year and consider how these stressful events may increase your vulnerability to the psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety or physical illness. The purpose of this scale is to increase your awareness of stressful events and their potential impact on your mental and physical health so that if you can take steps to reduce the stress level in your life.

Instructions

Think back on each possible life event listed below and decide how many times, if at all, it has happened to you within the last year. If you have had multiple stressors, add up their scores and see what the score means at the end.

Scoring

Score of 300+: At risk of illness.
Score of 150-299: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30% from the above risk).
Score <150: Only slight risk of illness.

Copyright © 1981 by Thomas H. Holmes, M.D. The University of Washington Press Edition, 1986. Department 1 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98185.